There are many ways to celebrate the beauty of horses in a home's decor. One of the simplest, of course, is to hang a painting or photo of a horse on the wall, as designer Stephen Shubel did below:


"France meets California in this foyer designed by Stephen Shubel: A Louis XVI-style chair sits next to a petrified tree trunk. Horse photo by Susan Friedman."
Interior design by Stephen Shubel.
Photography by Jeremy Samuelson.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"A California Home Shows Off the Power of Color" produced by Doretta Sperduto.
House Beautiful (January 2009).

There are more literal means of adding an equine spirit to a space, especially if one's home actually housed horses in the past. Judith Nadler Ellerman and John Ellerman created their spacious residence in an Illinois building that served as a storage stable more than 100 years ago:

"Gardens are linked by winding paths made with bricks salvaged from one of the fort's old horse stable floors."
Home of Judith Nadler Ellerman and her husband John Ellerman.
The "brick residence was built in 1892 as a storage stable at Fort Sheridan, a United States military installation north of Chicago."
Interior design by Judith Nadler Ellerman, Judith Nadler Interiors.
Landscape design by Bernard Jacobs, Jacobs/Ryan Associates.
Photography by Werner Straube.
Text by Amy Elbert.
"Stunning Remodel" produced by Hilary Rose.
Traditional Home.

Another family, also in Illinois, turned a barn into a kitchen and guesthouse. "The owners wanted to keep the integrity of the barn, right down to the horse stalls and feeder bins," but the goal was a "sophisticated" space, not "a cute, kitschy barn look." Here is the kitchen designer Mick De Guilio created:

"Designer Mick De Giulio repurposed the three horse stalls in this old Illinois barn by giving each a function: one for storage, with a tall, free-standing pantry; one for cooking, with a Wolf wall oven; and one for cleanup, with a dishwasher, a sink, and cupboards for the dishes. 'We just worked with what was there and had fun with it,' he says. Antique Holophane pendants restored by Remains Lighting."
"A barn in Lake Forest, Illinois was turned into a kitchen and guesthouse."
Design by Mick De Giulio, de Giulio kitchen design.
Photography by Ngoc Minh Ngo.
"Kitchen of the Month" interview by Christine Pittel.
House Beautiful (December 2011 - January 2012).

Horse troughs and barn doors can add history and beauty to living spaces as the following two photos attest:

"A fountain was made from a lavabo and a horse trough."
Photography by Reed Davis.
House Beautiful (August 2008).


"A folk art painting of a horse, once part of a barn, was mounted on a track in the owner's home office. She is a marriage counselor, and the sliding door hides a desk and files during sessions. Cameroon chief stools from Martin Showroom."
House in Santa Barbara, California.
Interior design by Erin Martin.
Photography by Victoria Pearson.
"Grand Gestures" interview by Lisa Cregan.
House Beautiful (February 2011). 

If a homeowner owns Thoroughbreds or is a competitive rider, trophies and ribbons add color and shine:


"Next to the living room, the bar and game room was refreshed with whitewashed walls. A new banquette runs the width of the sweeping lunette window on one wall. Silver commemorations testify that trophies have come like clockwork to family equestrian champions over many years." 
Janice and Cortright Wetherill's home in Pennsylvania horse country.
Interior design by Bill Brockschmidt and Courtney Coleman, Brockschmidt and Coleman LLC.
Architect: John D. Milner, FAIA, John Milner Architects Inc.
Photography by Tria Giovan.
"American Beauty" written and produced by John Francisco Andreu.

"One of the most prized of the Wetherills' many horse-racing trophies is the Preakness won in 1945 by Polynesian, a thoroughbred owned by Cortright's grandmother Gertrude T. Widener."
Janice and Cortright Wetherill's home in Pennsylvania horse country.
Interior design by Bill Brockschmidt and Courtney Coleman, Brockschmidt and Coleman LLC.
Architect: John D. Milner, FAIA, John Milner Architects Inc.
Photography by Tria Giovan.
"American Beauty" written and produced by John Francisco Andreu.
Traditional Home.


"A wall of horse-show awards in the library . . . is evidence of the owner's skills at hunt and jump."
1880s house in Healdsburg (Sonoma County), California.
Interior design by Myra Hoefer, Myra Hoefer Design.
Photography by Victoria Pearson.
"A California Home is Powerful in White" by Amanda Lovell.
House Beautiful.

Americana horses appear in the next two homes:


"An island sink from Waterworks with a vintage-style Rohl faucet faces the living areas. Wm Ohs cabinets and marble countertops and backsplashes contrast with walnut Olde Savannah Flooring."
Lake Maxinkuckee home of Gina and Jim Bremner.
Kitchen design: Rob Klein, Conceptual Kitchens and Millwork.
Photography by Tria Giovan.
Text by Amy Elbert.
"Salute to Summer" produced by Betsy Harris.
Traditional Home

"The barn-style house, by architects Sandra Vlock and Glenn Arbonies, has a 28-foot-high gambrel-shaped ceiling made of alder wood. A 'hayloft' runs the length of the main room."
"Designer Chipper Joseph's family home in Idaho, which was inspired by a 19th-century barn in Vermont."
Interior design by Chipper Joseph.
Architecture by Sandra Vlock and Glenn Arbonies, Arbonies King Vlock Architects.
Photography by Maura McEvoy.
"A Barn-Style House in Sun Valley" by Frances Schultz.
House Beautiful.

The remaining photos feature horse paintings of different styles and varied horse figures. Sculpted horse heads add drama to some of the spaces featured below. Take a look . . . 

Said David Netto of the house he designed with Gil Schafer: "I haven't met the room yet that doesn't do better with an African stool or headrest. If you don't want to dress up an English room, put something Russian in it. That desk changes everything for me, just closes the deal. The horse sculpture was the first thing we bought for Boxwood. You have to start somewhere - funny."
Boxwood, the Nashville residence of Gil Schafer, author of The Great American House: Tradition for the Way We Live Now.
Interior design by David Netto.
Architecture by Gil Schafer.
Photography  by Max Kim-Bee.
"Behind the Scenes" by David Netto.
Veranda (March 2011).

"Susan Ferrier took her color palette from this painting by James McLaughlin Way, through Mason Murer Fine Art Gallery. Faux horse-leg benches from John Rosselli are a whimsical touch."
Showhouse apartment in New York City created by Susan Ferrier and House Beautiful.
Interior design by Susan Ferrier, McAlpine Booth and Ferrier Interiors.
Photography by Thomas Loof.
Interview by Christine Pittel.
"The Power of Neutrals" produced by Ellen O'Neill and Whitney Robinson.
House Beautiful (January 2009).

"A sculpted horse's head silhouetted against the bathroom window. Anastasia benches from Bungalow Classic."
Showhouse apartment in New York City created by Susan Ferrier and House Beautiful.
Interior design by Susan Ferrier, McAlpine Booth and Ferrier Interiors.
Photography by Thomas Loof.
Interview by Christine Pittel.
"The Power of Neutrals" produced by Ellen O'Neill and Whitney Robinson.
House Beautiful (January 2009).

"The ceiling, often ignored in design, provides more dazzle to the elegant room. Silver-leaf squares, applied in a block pattern, were glazed to give the surface an aged appearance. Window panels of luscious silk taffeta in a silvery celadon enhance the complexity of the room's pastel-and-metallic palette. A stately horse-head sculpture rendered in 1920s Aptware reigns from atop a high pedestal in front of one of the windows."
Silver-leaf on ceiling: The Valley Craftsmen Ltd.
D.C. Design House in Washington, D.C.
Dining room design: Basha White, Basha White Interiors.

"On historic Mount Brilliant Farm in Kentucky, architect Elby S. Martin and designer Mona Hajj renovated an 8,600-square-foot fire-damaged carriage house for the owners' residence. Above: The enclosed north terrace."
Interior design by Mona Hajj.
Architecture by Elby S. Martin.
Photography by Billy Cunningham.
"The Grass is Greener" text by Michael Frank.
Architectural Digest (June 2010).

  "Hajj set her clients' furniture in the family room on a vintage Persian kilim. On the walls she paired antique Turkish textiles with paintings such as an oil by Roberto Marquez." 
Interior design by Mona Hajj.
Architecture by Elby S. Martin.
Photography by Billy Cunningham.
"The Grass is Greener" text by Michael Frank.
Architectural Digest (June 2010).

"In the master bedroom, Martin refurbished an existing heavy-beamed ceiling. Over the mantel, Hajj placed a Milton Avery painting she found in her clients' storage. 'The chandelier and tapestry are mine,' she says,  'the refined waking up the rustic, so to speak.' " 
Interior design by Mona Hajj.
Architecture by Elby S. Martin.
Photography by Billy Cunningham.
"The Grass is Greener" text by Michael Frank.
Architectural Digest (June 2010).

"Francesco Clemente's dramatic watercolors dominate the dining room, and John Robshaw's silver Indian chairs encircling the antique French lacquer table increase the theatrical quotient. Seat cushions are in Vaison linen by Nicole Fabre, trimmed in a Jim Thompson silk. Andrew Lord's sculpted bronze floor lamp is topped with a handmade paper shade. The iron-base lamp is a 17th-century candlestick with a shade in Robert Kime's India Pear."
Apartment of Nancy Tilghman, former CNN producer.
Interior design by Daniel Sachs.
Photography by Ngoc Minh Ngo.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"Classic and Worldly: A Park Avenue Apartment Takes a Global Point of View" produced by Senga Mortimer and Whitney Robinson.
House Beautiful (October 2010).

"[Kelly] Hoppen, who is based in London, collaborated with Tim Gosling, of David Linley, on the dining table, which was fashioned from mahogany inlaid with mother-of-pearl. They designed the cabinet - displaying Tang horses and old vellum books - to complement it."
Stonewall Farm in Westchester County, New York.
Owners Barry K. Schwartz, cofounder and chairman of Calvin Klein Inc., and his wife Sheryl breed and race Thoroughbreds.
Interior design by Kelly Hoppen.
Architecture by Rebecca Rasmussen Grunwald, Rebecca Rasmussen Architects.
Photography by Durston Saylor.
"New York Thoroughbred" text by Steven M.L. Aronson.

"The design scheme for the master bedroom was defined by the 6-foot-tall oil painting of a horse, which Kandis found during an art-shopping escapade. Creams, tans, and whites swathe the room in serenity."
Kandis Wright's 1920s Mediterranean-style home in the Chicago suburbs. Kandis co-founded San Juan Ventures, "an import company that designs, makes and sells reclaimed wood products created in Indonesia." Many of her home's furnishings are from San Juan Ventures.
Interior design by Gail Plechaty, Real Simple Design.
Photography by Edmund Barr.
Text by Saxon Henry.
"Natural Wonder" produced by Hilary Rose.

"A vintage horseshoe-shaped mirror."
Saratoga Springs home built in 1905.
Interior design by Nancy Boszhardt, Nancy Boszhardt Inc.
Photography by John Kernick.
Interview by Carol Prisant.
"Where's the Chintz?" produced by Senga Mortimer.
House Beautiful (October 2007).

"Striped faux-marble specimen lamps from John Rosselli and a nineteenth-century Italian wooden saddle form add height to a tablescape."
Interior design by Miles Redd.
Photography by Thomas Loof.
House Beautiful (July 2009).

"The main stair hall features a delicate lantern from Amy Perlin [Antiques]."
Saratoga Springs home built in 1905.
Interior design by Nancy Boszhardt, Nancy Boszhardt Inc.
Photography by John Kernick.
Interview by Carol Prisant.
"Where's the Chintz?" produced by Senga Mortimer.
House Beautiful (October 2007).

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